2017 IPL auctions to be held on the 4th of February

The 2017 Indian Premier League auctions will take place in the Garden City of Bengaluru on the 4^th of February. The 10^th edition of the League is likely to start from the 5^th of April, a wekk after the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"There is a proposal to start from April 5. The auctions will happen in Bengaluru on February 4. We had to keep a gap of one week after the Australia series," the Chairman of the League Rajeev Shukla told reporters after a Governing Council meeting.

“All operational details have been discussed,” he added.

The BCCI last season faced a major issue with regards to the water issue in Maharashtra, as a result of which matches had to be moved out of the state. Shukla, however, said that this time around such an issue won’t crop up as they are looking to invest in water harvesting technology.

"We will have water harvesting technology at stadiums in Maharashtra to counter drought threat in the state. We will ensure that we can generate our own water to maintain stadiums,” he said.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad are the defending champions of the League and as decided in the meeting will host the opening match as well as the final of the season as well. A franchises workshop will also be held in Dubai.

Along with Shukla, BCCI President Anurag Thakur, Secretary Ajay Shirke, President of the Cricket Association of Bengal Sourav Ganguly, Chief of the Jharkhand State Cricket Association were among the dignitaries who were present during this crucial meeting.

Under its existing 10-year contract, this will be the final edition of the much-followed League.The ninth edition of the League saw two new teams from Pune and Rajkot and both finished on the extreme ends of the tables.

While the former finished 7^th in the table, the latter made the qualifiers, where they eventually bowed, losing to the Sunrisers in the second eliminator in New Delhi.

Also it needs to be remembered that the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals could make a return to the League during the 11^th edition in 2018 and it will be interesting to see how may teams we do have during that year.